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Quneitra, Syria - Amid the collapse of the Syrian regime, Israel has taken advantage of the power vacuum in the country by seizing control of a demilitarised��buffer zone��in the occupied Golan Heights and breaking a fifty-year-long stalemate between the two countries.

The move was declared illegal by the United Nations and a violation of a 1974 ceasefire agreement, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now declared void.

Since then, local Syrians in the Quneitra Governorate have endured the weight of a foreign military occupation.

“We had no time to celebrate the downfall of [our] dictator before a new form of oppression started,” laments Abu Khaldun, a resident of Madinat al-Baath, the 'town of Baath', which was recently renamed ‘Madinat al-Salam’ by its inhabitants.

“There is no safety anywhere. People are afraid to let their children out,” he told ������. Like all the population within the Quneitra district, Abu Khaldun is anxious.

For a month now, Israeli forces have been conducting operations in the vicinity of the town, entering deserted government buildings allegedly in search of weapons.

“Israeli soldiers forced me to lead the way as they burst into the cultural centre of the city. They broke most doors and damaged electronic installations before leaving. They said they were looking for weapons,” Wassim T’hawi, an employee of the centre who encountered the Israeli soldiers in late December, told TNA.

The streets around this entry point to the town are now littered with debris, with tank marks carved over the tarmac. Israeli forces have also set up makeshift barricades on the road to demarcate a no-go zone which cuts off the governorate’s palace from the rest of the town.

Occupying Syrian properties and burning Qurans

In the nearby village of al-Hamidiyah, the main road is now closed. The few houses built on its slopes were forcibly evacuated by the Israeli army less than 48 hours after the fall of the Assad regime.

“The soldiers woke us up and ordered us to leave immediately. We couldn’t even grab any belongings. They took our identity cards and didn’t even return them. We are staying with our neighbours in the village, but we have none of our belongings,” explained Umm Haitham* in distress.

No less than eight houses have been claimed by the occupying Israeli forces. “I had to borrow clothes from my neighbours. This leather coat is not even mine. We have no idea what the future holds for us. It’s terrible,” Marwan A, another displaced local, told TNA.

The Israelis are currently building a base with bulldozers and cranes right next to his house.

On 2 January, Umm Haitham attempted to reach her house with a white flag, requesting permission to gather some belongings. Her demand was rejected, but she managed to find her cat, taking it back to the other side of the barricade erected by the Israeli army.

On top of the displacement of al-Hamidiyah, other inhabitants have had to endure violent Israeli intrusions inside their houses.��

“They came before dawn and burst inside. They tore everything apart. Our children are traumatised. Many of our neighbours went through the same. In one house, they shot bullets when entering every room,” recalled Hussain Farraj al Ali, a shepherd.

“They destroyed a fridge, a sewing machine funded by the UN, and most of the dishes in their kitchen. But the worst is that a soldier put their two Qurans and the children’s books in the wood stove,” he added.

The shepherd says he has lost access to half of the land his sheep used to graze on following the Israeli takeover of the area.

Water reserves seized and houses destroyed

The highly strategic water reservoir of al-Mantara, located a few kilometres south of al-Hamidiyah, is another area newly occupied by Israeli forces. The , one of the largest in southern Syria, is a vital water resource for the surrounding region.

Outraged locals reacted to their presence with fierce but pacific resistance on Christmas day.

“When the Israeli soldiers started sweeping the area and got too close to our farms, we all gathered. But they responded with weapons,” recalled Ali Abdallah, from the village of Swisah.

The twenty-year-old man was shot in his left leg and a large piece of shrapnel remains lodged in the other. He is one of around thirty demonstrators wounded by weapons during the demonstration, eight of which required surgery.

In the village of al-Rafeed, about 25 km south of al-Hamidiyah, the Israeli army destroyed two houses right after the fall of the Assad regime. According to locals, in November, during Israel’s war on Lebanon, Hezbollah had launched several rockets at an Israeli hilltop position near the village.

As soon as the Israeli military moved into the buffer zone, bulldozers came and flattened the houses where two families and a total of 16 people used to live, reportedly near a position used by Hezbollah fighters.

No less than a hundred eucalyptus trees around the house were also cut down by the Israeli army, as well as olive, pomegranate, and fig trees.

Near the UN military base in al-Rafeed, Abu Oday is still attempting to sow wheat in his fields. But this year, his harvest won’t reach the usual threshold.

“In late November, the Israeli army had already made some moves in the buffer zone. They confiscated a thousand dunams (100 hectares) of my land,” the farmer told TNA.

Abu Oday’s land is located near two strategic hills, Tal al-Sharqi and Tal al-Garbi, which were hastily evacuated by the Syrian army. These two hills are now Israeli positions overseeing the plain of al-Rafeed.

Syria's transitional authorities remain peaceful but wary

Despite general outrage following Israel’s actions, which have included over 800 airstrikes across the country on military��targets, the new rulers of Syria have not conducted any retaliatory actions against Israeli forces.

In the Khan Arnaba district, a combination of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other rebel forces have prioritised the demilitarisation of former regime soldiers.

“Gathering weapons remains our priority. We are handling the situation with the Israeli invaders through a mediation monitored by the Turkish government," explained Abd al Jamid al-Amouri, the newly appointed head of the local police who registers hundreds of demobilised soldiers daily.

"The transitional authorities in Damascus have stressed that the issue of the Golan should be resolved through negotiations in the future, but stability is our main goal right now.”

But the Israeli military presence in the area has created tensions, and suspicions, among residents.

On 31 December, a Syrian man was accompanied by the Israeli army to the entrance of Madinat al-Salam. Questioned by residents, he failed to give a logical explanation for his presence and could not provide an ID card.

He was immediately brought to the local police station and endured a rough interrogation before spending the night in a cell formerly used by the Syrian regime’s security branch.

“It seems this man suffers from a mental disorder and is superstitious. We found magic spells written on a piece of paper he owned. He came all the way from Latakia in an attempt to reach Israel, as he claimed,” explained Abu Naar, another local security commander.

“The man will be released shortly as soon as we ensure his strange tale is accurate”.

Abu Naar, like many local commanders, is compelled to turn a blind eye to the Israeli military presence, instead having to focus on ensuring security for the people of the district. Yet, he is sure many will not hesitate to take up arms if the Israeli army remains in the buffer zone.

“He who conquers and rules by the sword will be defeated and repelled by the sword,” resident Abu Khaldun prophesied, citing an Arabic proverb.

Ali Abdallah, injured by Israeli forces in Swisah, is also adamant about the future. “I wish to sacrifice myself for my land,” he proudly claimed, while lying in bed with his legs wrapped in bandages.

*Name of interviewee changed at their request

Sylvain Mercadier is a freelance journalist. Follow him on X:��